The Tunisian interior ministry has announced a national curfew in response to protests over unemployment, saying that national security is at stake.
The restrictions beginning on Friday night follow “attacks against public and private property”, it said.
Only night-shift workers and people needing urgent medical care will be exempt from the curfew.
Protests over youth unemployment have spread from the northern region of Kasserine to towns and cities.
More than a third of young people in Tunisia are unemployed, with 62% of graduates without work, according to the OECD.
Unemployment has worsened since the 2011 revolution, when President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted.
Tunisia’s uprising was the first of the Arab Spring, and often hailed as the most successful.
But correspondents say the authorities have failed to resolve the problems of social exclusion and poverty, and face a growing jihadist threat.
The curfew, which will run from 20:00 to 05:00 (19:00 to 04:00 GMT), has been put in place because of the “danger to the security of the state and it citizens”, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Anyone disobeying this decision risked prosecution, it warned.
The authorities called from calm after protests descended into vandalism, looting and violence in several areas.
The demonstrations started on Sunday in the central-western town of Kasserine, after a man was electrocuted while protesting over his rejection for a government job.
In the nearby town of Feriana, a policeman died after his car was overturned on Thursday.
Prime Minister Habib Essid, who cut short a visit to Europe to deal with the protests, has said his government has no “magic wand” with which to tackle unemployment.
In an interview with France 24 (in French) on Friday, Mr Essid said the country was struggling with the difficulties of being a “young democracy”.
“We need people to be patient,” he said.
Ridha Yahyaoui died on Sunday after climbing a utility pole in protest over a public sector job prospect that he was rejected for.
His brother, Mehrez, told the BBC’s Rana Jawad in Kasserine, that the 28-year-old had been fighting for a job for two years.
“His dream was to work, he didn’t like taking money from people,” he said.
“I’m his brother and when I would try to give him five dinars (£1.70; €2.50), he would not take it.
“This government has forgotten us… [Ridha] climbed a pole to tell them, ‘give me my rights’. He was electrocuted and he died. ”
After meeting French President Francois Hollande in Paris, PM Essid was due to return to Tunisia and visit Kasserine on Saturday.
Meanwhile the French presidency announced that the country would provide €1bn (£767m) $1.1bn) to Tunisia over the next five years as part of an economic support package.
“A major aspect of the plan aims to help poor regions and young people, putting the focus on employment,” it said in a statement.
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Wednesday that more than 6,000 jobs would be given to people from the town of Kasserine.
The government also promised an investigation into allegations of corruption.
The town has been under a state-imposed curfew from dusk till dawn since Tuesday.
BBC
